THE PATH TO STRENGTH
Proverbs 10:29 NKJV
29 The way of the Lord is strength for the upright,
But destruction will come to the workers of iniquity.
This tenth chapter of Proverbs is a chapter of contrasts. Twenty-four out of the thirty-two verses have a but in them. That sentence is going to read better than it sounds. This chapter is contrasting the ways of the righteous and upright with the ways of the wicked and the foolish.
With that theme in mind, our verse for today sums up this entire chapter. God's ways are strength to the upright. Strength to those who are right before God. As a refresher, righteous means right standing. This right standing with God has two applications. The first is the right standing we have with God because we have made Jesus our Lord and Savior. Jesus took our sins that we might have His righteousness. We did not earn this place of righteousness; it is a gift of God that we receive by faith. The second application is the right standing with God, that is a function of our living right before Him. We don’t earn this righteousness, but we do live out what has been done in us. Living right before the Lord is our privilege, and we do so out of deep respect for Him and a respect for His ways.
So as we look at this chapter, we are seeing God's ways, the way of the Lord. The way of the Lord will involve our words. "The mouth of the righteous is a well of life." "The lips of the righteous feed many." The way of the Lord is strength to the upright, so being acutely aware of our words and speaking words of life requires discipline, yet it is the path to strength.
Living right before the Lord is the way of wisdom, and God's ways of wisdom are the stronger ways. This chapter says that when the whirlwind passes, we might say tornado; the wicked is blown away. But the righteous have an everlasting foundation. And that certainly lines up with our verse for today. Going God's way is the way of strength. God's way is the way to a strong foundation. Even when the storms of life come, and they do, God's way is the way to stay on the path to strength.
Jesus gave us a great example of God's way being strength. Jesus contrasted the wise man who heard and applied God's Word with the foolish man who heard but never acted. When the storms came, the wise man's house stood firm, and the foolish man, who had no foundation, saw ruin.
The enemy lies to believers and tells them that living for God is too hard. And although living for God is not the easy path, it's not too hard. And the more we walk with Him, the stronger we become.
PRAYER
Lord, show me Your ways that I might walk in strength. Walking with You gives me a strong foundation and makes me a source of strength and life to those in my world.